It doesn't take a downturn in the cheaper to originate problems for your business. Every enterprise has its ups and downs even in booming markets. The interrogate is; Are you and your enterprise well prepared and equipped to face the challenges of a soft or hard economy?
Many entrepreneurs fear the downturn, and dread the prospects of losing their customers, their habitancy or their profit. They conjecture that if the cheaper is weak, clients and customers will cut back on projects, stop spending and might even seek cheaper alternatives from the competition.
External Hard Drives
All of this is true, but only to unavoidable extent. Sure, an economic slowdown and negative consumer sentiment can be arresting for your business. Or on the other hand, it can present you with an chance to gain new customers and boost your sales by developing efficient strategies that can work best in a declining market, and great for the boom times.
Unique Shinning Points, Usps for Your enterprise in Tough Times
Depending on the business you are in, there are numerous strategies that you can deploy to utter and even growth your sales, while your competitors struggle to stay afloat.
The following Usps "Unique Shinning Points", define measurable objectives and propose key strategic initiatives that will aid you in steering your enterprise effectively straight through uncertain economic times, while others struggle to get by:
Usp No. 1: apply the slow down time to improve your business' basics and fundamentals
Like a machine that needs fine-tuning, after a long period of operation, so does your enterprise needs tightening of its knots and bolts, and greasing of its parts so as to stop the squeaks. Start from the top by revisiting and re- enforcing your company's values, vision and mission. Ensure that your habitancy are motivated to keep the torch of the company's spirit alight, by demonstrating a clear comprehension of the enterprise challenges and by articulating their gift to uphold the company's values at all times.
Most importantly, align your company's objectives and values with your team's incentives and rewards. Share the facts over the whole enterprise so as to allow your habitancy the chance to show initiative. Involve your team in qoute solving and ask them to come transmit with innovative ideas to growth profitability, improve productivity and sacrifice costs.
Usp No. 2: Out think your competition
Pause for a moment and ask yourself the following question; if what I sell or offer is essentially the same as my competitors, what do I need, to be distinct and great in many aspects along with my level of customer service, my arrival to marketing, promotion and sales?
The reply to this interrogate goes beyond creativity and innovation, to indeed differentiating your enterprise from your competitors utilizing "thought leadership" with arresting ingenuity, which will have to become a second nature to you and your enterprise in arresting times. Your extreme objective is to truly stand out in the minds of your customers by utilizing visionary sales and marketing strategies to originate a Unique Shinning Points (Usps) that are exclusive to your enterprise and unique to your industry. In other words, differentiate your enterprise indeed from its competitors or die.
Usp No. 3: Reactivate old leads
With just minuscule extra sales effort, old leads can be converted into profitable business. Many leads that you gave up on in the past can be reactivated and turned around, you just have to persevere. A study by Harvard School of enterprise in 2007 revealed that most sales habitancy regardless of the business give up too early. According to the study, 75 percent of sales to enterprise or clients are made on the fifth sales call, 25 percent of salespeople call beyond three calls!
Usp No.4: Give superior level of assistance to your clients
Holding on to your existing customers while tough times is like retention on to fire in your hand, it is therefore of noted importance to your business' survival and longevity. Going the extra mile, pleasing your customers and giving them more than their money's worth by maintaining a sales- assistance excellence culture, is a sure way to sustaining the impetus in your business. Now is the time to do that extra bit that can mean the dissimilarity in the middle of just merely satisfying your customers and flabbergasting - dazzling them.
Usp No. 5: Plan and Implement an aggressive new marketing strategy
The truth of the matter is that, to forestall a lull in your enterprise from ever happening in the first place, you should shop consistently and aggressively all year long and every week. Not just when you need the business. Planning an ongoing marketing strategy ensures a steady stream of new enterprise leads. Marketing done today begins a selling cycle that will effect in new enterprise when you need it six months down the track.
Usp No. 6: Add value to your existing products or services
In a downturn, customers are more involved with price than ever before. So address their concern by development sure you give them the best value for their dollar. There is no need to "give the store" or to provide an excessive level of service. Just a minuscule extra endeavor or assistance will be perceived as a requisite growth in value by your customers. apply technology and communal media to drive enterprise growth and in the meantime as an added value to customer service, communication and effect up.
Usp No. 7: Be unavoidable and enthusiastic
It is imperative that you stay unavoidable and not to become depressed in slow enterprise periods. If you are depressed, your habitancy and your customers can sense your depression which might have negative effect on your internal and external business. Don't despair, be enthusiastic, believe in your people, your products and your services, and exchange that power of enthusiasm and reliance to your habitancy and your customers. Don't give up too soon, remember that you are not alone, because in a downturn everyone in the shop place are under the same umbrella and going straight through the same conditions as you are.
Seek the help of a professional coach and mentor who can aid in addressing your strengths and weaknesses while helping you gawk your inner motivation and refocusing your efforts on the big picture
Usp No. 8: hang any planned price increases
Needless to say that a enterprise downturn is not the ideal time for you to growth your prices, even if you feel you deserve it, and that an growth is long overdue. Rearrange your prices while this transient period of enterprise respite to accommodate a wider range of customers.
Usp No. 9: control negative and incompetent habitancy in your business
Negative habitancy at the best of times can be detrimental to your success. The last thing you need while tough times is a negative or incompetent person that does not "buy-in" to your values and your enterprise culture. control and deal with these situations with courage abruptly and swiftly, and remove any one who does not "buy- in" to your enterprise culture, as it takes just one incompetent or negative person to hold back the whole team.
Finally and naturally put, in every enterprise cycle, and in every businessman's life term there are defining moments that want considerable actions congruent with the task at hand. However, due to the pressures of the arresting moments, enterprise habitancy tend to overlook the big picture. Ensure the right coaching for yourself and your team so that you can focus on "back to basics" and take your team to the next level where everyone in your enterprise is proficient at the basics and the fundamentals. Above all, keep sight of the big photo while defining the best strategies, programs and services that will boost your revenues, position your enterprise for continued success, and most of all, that will truly differentiate your enterprise from the others in your marketplace.
I would like to leave you with this view from my Mentor, Peter Drucker; " Don't tell me what you have learned, tell me how you are going to do things differently"
Unique Shinning Points, Usps for Your enterprise in Tough Times
